GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY First Film of 2014 to Pass $300 Million US Box Office

By Lucas Siegel, Site Editor September 15, 2014 08:29am ET

Ronan the Accuser character poster for Guardians of the Galaxy

Credit: Marvel Studios

Guardians of the Galaxy hit yet another milestone this past weekend. The surprise hit (to some) is now the first movie of 2014 to pass $300 million in U.S. domestic box office receipts. The movie also passed $300 million internationally, putting it well over half a billion dollars, with a current total of $611.5 million and still a couple of large foreign markets to open in.

It’s Marvel’s latest success story, and while it’s not the billion-plus success of an Avengers or Iron Man 3, in a way it’s Marvel Studios’ biggest success yet. An utterly unknown franchise with unknown characters and a largely indie director, Guardians of the Galaxy has overtaken movies like Marvel’s own Captain America: The Winter Soldier (It’s now only under the Iron Man movies and Avengers in domestic release for the MCU - and might catch Iron Man 2, with a narrow chance of catching the first, too), fellow Marvel property and Sony film The Amazing Spider-Man, and even DC Comics and Warner Bros’ marquee hero and launch of their cinematic universe, Man of Steel. Yes, you read that correctly: a talking raccoon and tree took down Superman in the theaters, in back-to-back years. What that means for the future of DC Comics movies versus Marvel Comics movies remains to be seen, but it’s certainly cause for speculation.

Marvel clearly had a lot of confidence in Guardians of the Galaxy, with a dedicated playset and figures coming to Disney Infinity 2.0 at its launch on September 23, 2014, and a sequel already green lit and scheduled for July 28, 2017.